Thunderbird's Open Lottery was held on April 7, 2015.

Waitlist applications will continue to be available through Dec. 2015. To add your child to the waitlist please fill out the waitlist application. You will be notified of your waitlist number by email and you will be notified by email if your child is placed into an open seat.

You will need to use the email address you used to start your application and the User ID that was returned to you via email to login. If you do not have your User ID use the Forgot Password link to retrieve your User Id.

2. LOTTERY NIGHT DETAILS:We will hold our Lottery on Tuesday, April 7, 2015 at 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm in our main campus auditorium, located at 17609 Old Statesville Road, Cornelius, NC. The Lottery is open to the public and attendance is not required.

4. LOTTERY RESULTS INFORMATION:Lottery results will be posted within the auditorium on the night of the lottery (until 8:00 pm) and will also be available on our website beginning Wednesday April 8, 2015 and email notifications will be sent.

5. Due to the large number of registrations received, we DO NOT send out Lottery results by postal mail. You can use your login information to check your child's results online:http://thunderbird.integrity6.com/Home/Login

If your child has been admitted, there status will be listed as "Placed". If your child has not been admitted, then that means they are on the wait list for their specific grade level and their position number indicates where they are on the wait list (i.e. if their results position is "8", that means there are 7 names ahead of them on the wait list).

Please understand that we have Sibling Priority Wait Lists for each grade level and per NC Charter Law, we must offer any openings to those names on the Sibling Priority Wait List first before we can go the the general Lottery Wait List.

Purpose: This policy is in place to address the process for handling admissions at TPA. The goal of this admissions policy is to declare the process and methods that will be used to admit students in a fair and consistent way that does not offer priority to any student except those specifically noted in charter school law 115C-218.45(f). Thunderbird Preparatory Academy, hereafter referred as TPA is a nonprofit, tuition-free charter school authorized by the state of North Carolina. As a charter school, TPA will be open to all students who would otherwise qualify for enrollment in North Carolina Public Schools. The school will not discriminate against any student on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, gender, or disability. TPA will open enrollment for the 2015/2016 school year on Thursday, December 18, 2014. Open enrollment will continue until midnight (EST) on Tuesday Friday, March 31, 2015 for the 2015-2016 school years. At that time the determination will be made as to whether a lottery will be required or if rolling enrollment will continue until all spots are filled in grades K-5. If there are more applicants in a specific grade than there are spots available, we will hold a lottery at 7 p.m. on Tuesday April 7, 2015, in an open meeting.

The application may be completed online through our website (www.Thunderbirdprep.org), unless a family is unable to access the site. In that case, we will provide a paper application to parents as requested. The application will include the student’s name, parent’s/guardian’s name, current address of student, phone number of parent/guardian, email of parent/guardian, county of residence, current grade level, student’s date of birth, current school, the name of any siblings already enrolled at the school (after the first year of opening), declaration of the student’s residence in the state of North Carolina, confirmation of access to email, parent email address and an indication as to how the family would like their children entered into the lottery. Each family will be offered the choice to either enter all of their children into the lottery with one surname or enter each child separately in the lottery. If the family chooses to enter their children with one surname, the highest grade will be used for the application. If the surname is pulled during the lottery when there are available spots in the grade level, then all siblings will be admitted immediately if space is available in their respective grade levels. If there is no space available, the remaining siblings will be placed on the waitlist in the order of the admitted sibling’s. Enrollment Priority: TPA will follow all rules and regulations regarding enrollment priority as specified in charter school law 115C-238.29F(g)(5). The following groups will have enrollment priority at TPA in the order that follows as space permits in each grade:

1. Children of full time employees (may not exceed 15% of total school population)2. Siblings of current students. (as determined by Charter School law G.S. 115C-238.29F(g)(5a)

Multiple Birth Siblings: If multiple birth siblings apply to the school, their surname will be entered once to represent all of the multiple birth siblings. If the multiple birth siblings are in different grades, the highest grade will be used for the application. If that surname is pulled in the lottery all of the multiple birth siblings will be admitted immediately. Lottery for the 2015/2016 School Year:

For the 2015/2016 school year, TPA will begin the lottery by having a lottery to determine the order in which the grade level lotteries will be held. Available spots, (not exceeding 15% of the total school population for children of full-time employees) in each grade will be held for those receiving enrollment priority or siblings of students in the lottery until the lottery has been completed. At that time, remaining spots in each grade level will be filled until all available spots in each grade level are filled. Once available spots in a grade level are filled for the coming school year, the school will add remaining applicants to the waitlist in the order they are selected from the lottery. This wait list will be used in the event that a spot opens and the school chooses to fill the vacant position.

Lottery Results:The school will notify parent/guardian of the lottery results via their registered email address provided on the online application. In addition the results of the lottery will be posted on the website within 5 business days of the lottery. If a student has been admitted to the school, the parent/guardian of the student will receive an acceptance notification via email . If the parent is unable to receive email, an acceptance letter will be mailed to the child’s residence. The results and the wait list will be updated regularly to allow parents to determine their current place on the wait list. Parents of students placed on the wait list will receive periodic communication via email or mail as to their students place on the waitlist. Students Applying after the Open Enrollment Period:Any students applying after the open enrollment period will be placed on the wait list directly after any wait listed students from the lottery in the order the application was received. As space becomes available during the first 20 days of the school year, those spaces will be filled. Enrollment will generally be closed after student accounting is completed for the State (typically on the 21st day). If the event that enrollment is extended wait listed parents will be notified of any enrollment extension.

Enrollment: Admitted students will have until April 20th to accept or decline enrollment. If a student is admitted after April 20, they will have 5 calendar days to to accept or decline enrollment. If a student is admitted after August 1, they will have 5 days to accept or decline enrollment at the school. If the school does not receive the enrollment paperwork back in a specified time period, the Director may decline enrollment to the student and offer the spot to the next student on the wait list. As spots at the school become available, the parent/guardian of the student will be contacted via email. If the parent does not have access to email they will be contacted by the school by telephone and regular mail to the students home address.

Locations:

Kindergarten - 5th will be located at the schools current main campus at 17609 Old Statesville Road Cornelius, NC 28031. TPA’s School’s Right to Refuse Enrollment:TPA reserves the right to refuse to enroll any student currently under a term of expulsion or suspension by his or her school until that term is over. TPA reserves the right to refuse to enroll a student if a parent willingly and knowingly provided incorrect information on the enrollment application. If a student has accepted enrollment at the school, but does not appear at the school in the first 2 days of school, the school will make reasonable attempts to contact the parents. If there is no response from the parent by the 5th day of school, the school reserves the right to remove the student from their enrollment roster and offer the next student on the wait list the spot.

Contact the school's main number to request a hard-copy of the enrollment form.